BHANSA Director Primorac and Deputy Martinović on Sick Leave Again, Will Not Appear at Public Hearing!

(Patria) - BHANSA Director Davorin Primorac and Deputy Tomislav Martinović are on sick leave again, which is why they will not attend the public hearing before the Commission for Transport and Communications of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly.

Although they were at work at the end of January, ahead of the public hearing scheduled for February 11, two of the three members of BHANSA's Management Board are on sick leave.

The Director's Office has submitted a notification to the Commission that the public hearing will be attended by the second deputy director Sanjin Hadžiomerović, BHANSA Council Chairperson Sanja Škuletić-Malagić, Head of the Director's Office Azra Mulac Bulić, and Head of the Human Resources Department Zorica Stanković.

In the past period, eight air traffic controllers have left BHANSA, continuing their careers outside BiH. The Council of Ministers of BiH has given consent to a new Rulebook that increases employee salaries by up to 25% compared to 2025.

Primorac tried in every way to avoid the public hearing, so in mid-December he sent a sharply worded letter to the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers of BiH Borjana Krišto, ministers in the Council of Ministers of BiH, the OHR, the EU Delegation to BiH, and the Chairperson of the Commission for Transport and Communications Jasmin Imamović, opposing the public hearing of BHANSA Management Board members.

In the letter, Primorac stated that the Commission's actions produce harmful consequences for BHANSA's work and reputation, and that they submit illegal requests demanding data on the monthly amount needed for BHANSA's operations, the amount of monthly net income of employees, starting from the director and other employees.

BHANSA has never submitted data on monthly costs to the Commission, justifying itself by stating that it "does not have data on fixed monthly amounts needed for BHANSA's operations" because the monthly dynamics of costs and monetary obligations depend on the volume of realized activities, nor on employee salaries, stating that these are personal data protected by the Law on Personal Data Protection.

BHANSA does not accept the Commission's positions, which stated that BHANSA's management is withholding financial data.

The Commission had previously requested data on the number of all employees in this institution, the Main Office in Mostar, and the names and surnames of employees. The Commission requested that copies of public procurement contracts from the beginning of 2023 to December 1, 2025 be submitted. The BiH Administrative Inspectorate was asked to urgently conduct a direct inspection supervision in BHANSA. The inspection supervision was carried out on December 23, but the Law on Administration does not apply to this institution, which is why the inspector had no basis for ordering administrative or other measures.

Primorac persistently claims that BHANSA does not use funds from the budget of BiH institutions, and that financial documents are approved at multiple levels, both by international and national authorized institutions. BHANSA warns that after the "Viaduct" case, when funds from EUROCONTROL were blocked due to debt collection based on a court ruling, they are facing a departure of expert staff. On February 4, BHANSA announced a competition for air traffic controllers.

Primorac has been at the helm of BHANSA for a second term, which expires in March this year. He is the son-in-law of Dragan Čović, president of HDZ BiH. Amendments to the BHANSA Law that were supposed to allow the management to remain in their positions did not pass in the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliamentary Assembly. But, as they do with other institutions, Primorac's mandate will be extended in a way that no competition for a new director will be announced, as has been done with several other institutions where directors' mandates have expired.

According to information from the Commission for Transport and Communications, the national structure of employees does not reflect the national structure of BiH according to the 2013 Census, which is why information on the number of employees was requested.